GTRA to play River Valley in first round

October 25, 2013

The Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire Titans make their first official playoff appearance on Wednesday when they travel to Correctionville to take on River Valley.

GT/RA's member schools have a long history in the playoffs. Graettinger made the playoffs in 1976, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1992, 1993 and 2002. Terril made the playoffs in 1978 and 1979. Ruthven-Ayrshire and Terril made the playoffs three times as the Lakeland Raiders in 1997, 1998 and 2002.

Last, but not least, Graettinger-Terril qualified for the playoffs four straight years from 2008-11.

Of these, the furthest any team reached was Graettinger in 1976 and 1983 when the Pirates were runners-up.

This season, GTRA earned the third seed by virtue of its standings in Class 8-Man District 2 behind Top 5 teams Newell-Fonda (tied for third in the Associated Press rankings) and No. 5 West Bend-Mallard.

GTRA will face the No. 2 seed from District 1, River Valley, at 7 p.m., on Wednesday.

As River Valley, Correctionville, the Wolverines have made the playoffs twice-in 1999 and 2012. As Eastwood, Correctionville, the squad won a 1-A title in 1978 with playoff appearances also in 1977, 1983, 1986, 1987, 1988 and 1991.

This season, River Valley was 7-1 entering its final game of the season against Clay Central-Everly on Friday. The Wolverines lone loss was to defending champion Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn, 52-29, in Week 7.

MMC is one of two common opponents for River Valley and GTRA. GTRA lost 32-0 to MMC in the season opener. The other common opponent for the two teams is Remsen-Union. The Titans won their matchup 28-20 in Week 2. River Valley defeated Remsen-Union 46-16 in Week 5.

River Valley has a one-man wrecking crew in quarterback Brennan Riedemann. Through eight games, he has rushed 178 times for 1,692 yards and 37 touchdowns. Through the air, he is 69-of-106 for 976 yards and 10 touchdowns to just three interceptions.

Sam Briese is the lead receiver with 41 catches for 516 yards and one touchdown. Parker Goettsch has 194 yards and six touchdowns on 14 receptions.

Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire has a more versatile running attack with Kyle Dalen rushing 140 times for 793 yards and nine touchdowns while Mason McGrauth has 571 yards and four touchdowns on 105 carries.

Also, quarterback Marcus Girres had 157 yards on 50 carries with five touchdowns. Michael Girres has 185 yards and one touchdown on 30 carries.

Through the air, Marcus Girres is 25-of-556 passing for 33 yards with four touchdowns and one interception.

Michael Girres also has taken some snaps and is 9-of-17 for 111 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

The winner of Wednesday's contest will play Monday, Nov. 4 against the winner of the top seed from District 2 (either Newell-Fonda or West Bend) and the No. 4 seed from District 1 (either St. Mary's, Remsen or Harris-Lake Park).